Man arrested for trying to take over NCP leader Baba Siddique's mobile number after his death

Mumbai | A former bank employee has been arrested from Delhi for allegedly trying to take over the mobile number of late NCP leader Baba Siddique in order to siphon off funds from his bank account, police said on Tuesday.

Vivek Sabhrewal (48), who holds an MBA degree, was arrested on Sunday night from Burari locality of the national capital, said an official of Bandra police station.

Baba Ziauddin Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead by two assailants on October 12, 2024.

As per the complaint lodged by his daughter Dr Arshia Siddique, after his death, the family wanted to keep his mobile number active, and hence her mother Shahzeen Siddique became the `authorised signatory' of the said number by duly applying to the mobile service provider.

On June 25, her mother received an email from Vodafone Idea regarding an application for `updating' the authorised signatory.

When her mother showed the email to her, Arshia Siddique realised that someone had applied to the company seeking to update the authorised signatory by applying from an email id which resembled Shahzeen Siddique's email id but for the difference of one letter.

Sensing that something was wrong, she lodged a police complaint.

The accused was traced on the basis of the mobile number he had used for making application to the service provider, the police official said.

Sabhrewal, who had once worked with a bank, allegedly confessed to police that he wanted to become authorised signatory of the late NCP leader's number to gain access to his bank accounts and steal funds.

He was arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections including 319 (cheating by personation), 335 (making false document or fake electronic record) and 336 (forgery). Further probe is on, the official said.